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The top ten parent concerns from RFKM's 2016 Member Priorities
Survey, conducted from February - April 2016, are below. You can
see the complete ratings
here. For the second year in a row, the
most important issue for MCPS parents is getting rid of so many
junk food options, like burgers, fries, pizza and processed
chicken at all grade levels.
| Rank |
Priority |
Score* |
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1
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At the elementary school
level, increasing the amount of wholesome food options and
reducing the amount of "junk" food options (e.g., burgers,
fries, pizza, processed chicken).
|
2.45
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2
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At the middle and high school level,
increasing the amount of wholesome food options and
reducing the amount of "junk" food options (e.g., burgers,
fries, pizza, processed chicken).
|
2.33
|
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3
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Moving from processed, preplated and
reheated food to food cooked from scratch at the central
facility with more prep work done on site at the schools
with kitchens.
Progress: At a meeting in June 2017 with the
Kathy Lazor, the Director of Materials Management in MCPS
(who is above Food Services), Ms. Lazor indicated that
MCPS was planning to do more scratch cooking in their
central facility.
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2.26
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4
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Removing or reducing marketing of
unhealthy foods in school.
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2.24
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5
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A limited set of healthier a la
carte items for elementary schools.
Progress: As of fall of 2016,
MCPS replaced Cheetos and Doritos in all schools with 50%
whole grain pita chips, hummus, and a clean-label hot
fries product. As of fall of 2017, all ice creams with
artificial colors have been replaced with ice creams with
only natural colors.
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2.20
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6
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Removing other remaining chemicals
characterized as avoid or caution by the Center for
Science in the Public Interest from school food.
Progress: As of 2016, MCPS has replaced their hot
dog with one that has no added nitrates or nitrites. As of
fall of 2017, all ice creams with artificial colors have
been replaced with ice creams with only natural colors.
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2.15
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7
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A limited set of healthier a la
carte items for middle and high schools.
Progress:
As of 2016, MCPS has replaced their hot dog with one that
has no added nitrates or nitrites. As of fall of 2017, all
ice creams with artificial colors have been replaced with
ice creams with only natural colors and as of fall of
2016, MCPS has replaced Cheetos and Doritos in all schools
with 50% whole grain pita chips, hummus, and a clean-label
hot fries product.
|
2.13
|
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8
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Reducing the sugar in all school
foods.
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2.12
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9
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Offering unlimited fruits and
vegetables for free to all children who purchase lunch.
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2.06
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10
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Putting salad bars in all middle
and high schools.
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2.00
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*Scores were calculated by assigning 3 points
to "Essential", 2 points to "A High Priority" and 1 point to "A
moderate priority" responses and subtracting 2 points for "Not a
Priority" and 1 point for "A Low Priority" responses.
Scratch cooking moved from 7th to 3rd place in this year's
survey, perhaps because we broke apart having a healthier set of a
la carte items in elementary and secondary schools into two
questions, which scored 5th and 7th respectively. An exciting new
dark horse priority appeared in 4th place this year as we asked
for the first time about removing marketing of unhealthy foods in
schools. We're excited to take on this new parent priority that
has a lot of national momentum behind it. This pushed working for
healthier daytime vending options into 11th place and out of the
top ten.
Removing chemicals and reducing the sugar in school foods
continue to be top parent priorities, as does offering unlimited
fruits and vegetables to all children. And while we found strong
support for putting salad bars into all middle and high schools,
with that priority ranking 10th, we found much lower support for
putting salad bars in elementary schools, which scored only 31st.
This is likely due to to a lack of parent familiarity with the
success of elementary school salad bars, which we hope we have
changed after our Salad Bar Summit. In addition, cost can be an
issue in implementing salad bars in the upper grades, as schools
have so little to spend on food, necessitating charging by the
ounce for secondary school salads. This can make the price of a
salad prohibitive for many families and lead to lack of use of the
salad bar. In elementary schools, in contrast, salads are
generally included as part of the Free and Reduced Priced or set
price meal (although usually as a side dish). Currently, MCPS has
about 20 salad bars in all types of schools and offers daily full
meal and side salad options in all secondary schools.
We had an average of 420 responses per question (many quit
mid-survey), which represents a response rate of 18.2% of our
identified parent members, who currently number 2305. However, we
did discover that about 15% of survey respondents did not have
children in school. Of all people invited to take the survey
(3544), we had a 13.9% response rate for completing any portion of
the survey.
2018 Priorities and Progress
2017 Priorities and
Progress
2015 Priorities and
Progress
2014 Priorities and
Progress
2013 Priorities and
Progress
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". . . it's great that
[MCPS is] serving healthier types of pizza, hamburgers,
etc., but I want my kids to be excited about delicious
and nutritious meals that don't fall into one of these
junk food categories. At home, we serve home-cooked
meals almost exclusively, but we'd like that message to
be reinforced at school also."
- Brad Behr, MCPS Parent
"I teach high school and the students are begging
for healthier choices--especially the kids who receive
free and reduced meals. Their options are limited."
- An
MCPS teacher
"Please no more
chicken nuggets, pizza, fries and other junk foods.
Positive peer pressure can help some kids open up to
new, healthier foods. School is a good opportunity for
that."
- An RFKM Supporter
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